UN report: Data centers' environmental footprint rivals entire countries, set to double by 2028 as AI expands
By
Seth Borenstein
Pure flour-power. Hearty enough to carry you through lunch.
Summary
A United Nations University report reveals that global data centers consumed 448 trillion watt-hours of electricity last year, rivaling all but 10 countries, and produced about 208 million tons of CO2 — comparable to Argentina's emissions. The report warns that water and energy use and pollution from data centers will double within four years as AI usage grows. The study focused on energy consumption and did not examine water usage for cooling.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThe environmental footprint of data centers already rivals some of the world's largest countries
Last year, global data centers used 448 trillion watt-hours of electricity, more than all but 10 countries of the world
Their water and energy use and pollution will double in just four years as use of artificial intelligence grows
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